The proposal includes construction of a 728,000-square-foot building with ancillary offices, 162 loading docks, 199 trailer spaces and 594 parking spaces, according to Craig Sweeney of local law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Sweeney submitted the application on behalf of Pinchal & Company LLC, a privately owned real estate investment company based in Houston, Texas, which is listed as the potential purchaser of the property. The site is currently owned by HGHeritage LLC.
At this time, the city has not received any applications for building permits for the warehouse project and a specific end user of the proposed facility has not been made public.
The conditional use permit was approved by council with one dissenting vote from Vice Mayor David Lewis, who prior to the vote cited the issue of truck traffic in the area.
“The number one complaint that I’ve had relating to quality of life in this city has revolved around truck traffic,” Lewis said during the meeting.
He is concerned the project may negatively impact traffic mitigation efforts put forth by the city up to this point and in the future.
“By all rights, this project seems to be well-planned, but that isn’t the issue,” Lewis said. “It’s the result this project will (give) to the city.”
Councilmember Corey Follick gave comments in support of the project, stating the city of Vandalia should “start to reap some of the benefits” of expansion and development in the area.
“Development is going to occur in and around Vandalia and there’s nothing we can do about it,” Follick said. “We’ve got six or more projects in the pipeline in and around the Dayton International Airport and none are in the city of Vandalia.”
He said benefits of further development outweigh any potential negatives, and that given the city’s location near I-75 and I-70 and the U.S. highway that goes through the area, the idea of finding a perfect solution to the issue of semi-truck traffic seems unlikely.
“We’ve got to accept that or we’re going to be here in 20 years, have a bunch of land that’s sitting vacant and not ready for development and we’re going to have financial issues,” he said.
According to City Manager Dan Wendt, and as stated by Sweeney during the initial planning commission meeting, the potential new owner is prepared and willing to install signage on both Capstone Way and Peters Pike to direct any resulting truck traffic to Airport Access Road.
Council also approved a variance to allow for loading docks within the front yard of the proposed facility, which had also been approved previously by the Board of Zoning Appeals in a 4-0 vote. A variance regarding perimeter landscaping for the property was voted down.
According to planning commission documents, the facility is estimated to create between 30 and 45 full-time positions.
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